It is somewhat curious that among the great number of books
on occult science and all forms of divination which have been
published in the English language there should be none dealing
exclusively with the Tea-cup Reading and the Art of Telling
Fortunes by the Tea-leaves: notwithstanding that it is one of the
most common forms of divination practised by the peasants of
Scotland and by village fortune-tellers in all parts of this
country. In many of the cheaper handbooks to Fortune-telling by
Cards or in other ways only brief references to the Tea-cup method
are given; but only too evidently by writers who are merely
acquainted with it by hearsay and have not made a study of it for
themselves.
This is probably because the Reading of the Tea-cups affords
but little opportunity to the Seer of extracting money from
credulous folk; a reason why it was never adopted by the gypsy
soothsayers, who preferred the more obviously lucrative methods of
crossing the palm with gold or silver, or of charging a fee for
manipulating a pack of playing-cards.
Reading the Cup is essentially a domestic form of
Fortune-telling to be practised at home, and with success by anyone
who will take the trouble to master the simple rules laid down in
these pages: and it is in the hope that it will provide a basis for
much innocent and inexpensive amusement and recreation round the
tea-table at home, as well as for a more serious study of an
interesting subject, that this little guide-book to the science is
confidently offered to the public.